You can understand my excitement when I landed in Kuala Lumpur, knowing that there was a shopping mall located nearby my hotel, which may I add, happen to have the most awesome view of the Petronas Twin Towers . There has been a real lack of beauty stores during my travels so far, with the occasional pharmacy and of course, duty free within the international airports. You can imagine my excitement heightened when I discovered that within the mall, there was a Sephora! Oh God, praise the Lord! Following that, you can only that things got a little bit crazy when I actually set foot in-store whilst my boyfriend knew better and made himself occupied elsewhere, knowing the carnage that was about to happen. If you want to know exactly what went into my basket, then be prepared. It’s a big, long list.
Marc Jacobs Beauty
The first counter I made a beeline for was Marc Jacobs Beauty. Understandably so, as this is one of the many brands unavailable in the UK. I was overwhelmed by the number of products and colours all vying for my attention. I had to contain myself and focus, being well aware that there was a danger that I would actually walk out of the store with every single product from the Marc Jacobs Beauty range. Focus Thu, Focus!
The first thing I grabbed was the O!Mega Bronze Perfect Tan Bronzer in 102 Tantric. I’ve seen a number of You Tubers and beauty bloggers talking about this and boy, oh boy, is this one hell of a beaut. First of all, lets talk about the size of this beauty. Its absolutely huge. As in the ‘size of my face’ huge. The packaging is sleek, shiny black, in the shape of a rounded off square. It opens up to reveal a large mirror and of course the product itself. It’s set in a beautiful circular pan and what looks to be a beautiful, mid-toned, matte bronzer, veering more on cool side so it doesn’t look too orange. I’ll let you know how I get on with it but if it’s as good as it looks, this could be a match made in heaven.
The next thing that I picked up was the Marc Jacobs Beauty Remedy Concealer Pen. I actually quite like the name as it suggests that it’s a fixer by function and boy do I all need to fix the bags under my eyes and the redness dotted sporadically around my face. I picked up the shade 04 Last Call which looks like the perfect match for my skin, if not just a tad lighter which is fine by me. What I can tell so far, the texture is really light which is a texture I prefer especially if it’s for under the eyes to keep things from caking.
The last thing I picked up from the Marc Jacobs Beauty ranges (yes I managed to restrain myself so I think I deserve a gold star and a pat on the back) was the Hi-Shine Enamoured Lacquer in the shade 138 Jezebel. With it being Autumn/Fall now (although travelling in South East Asia, it still feels like it’s summer constantly with the occasional monsoon), I wanted a darker shade on my nails and unfortunately I didn’t bring one with me. Nothing that a quick shop in Sephora wouldn’t sort out. The shade 138 Jezebel is a dark cherry red and I’m dying to put on a darker shade on my nails after seeing all my favourite You Tubers donning it to match their darker pout for Autumn/Fall.
Make Up For Ever
The next counter I headed for was Makeup Forever. This isn’t strictly unavailable in the UK, it’s just not that easy to get to. I think there’s only one or two stores in London that stock this brand. My first experience with the brand was actually through an online Sephora purchase when they first opened up their shipping gateways to include the UK (hurrah!). I had ordered the HD Complexion Starter Kit and was truly impressed, particularly with the foundation, which I love to wear for evenings out and it’s great for filming and photography too.
To match my dark nails and keeping with the Autumn/Fall theme, I wanted to pick up a dark lip shade. Step forward the Rouge Intense Artist lipstick in the shade 46 Satin Bordeaux Red which is a deep, dark berry shade in a matte finish.
Rouge Artist Natural Lipstick in N46 Cherry Red
I also picked up their Aqua Shadow in 2E which is a chubby, matte crayon for the eyes. It’s a waterproof formulation and claims to be crease resistant, so it should be long lasting. The shade 2E is a deep, dark, cool toned brown so it’s suitable for everyday wear which is exactly why I bought it but I was hoping to use it to deepen and darken up a look for evenings out too.
Tarte
Tarte is also another brand that is difficult to get in the UK. It’s only been recently made available on QVC but they don’t have the whole range on there and it’s limited to a few colours in each product. The selection in the store was small and the only thing that caught my eye was the Limited Edition Rainforest After Dark Coloured Clay Eye and Cheek Palette, but unfortunately for me and by limited edition nature, they were sold out (I do wish they would not display products that are out of stock, it’s such a c*ck tease).
I already own two shades of the Tarte blush so didn’t feel like I needed another and it wasn’t until I queued up to pay when I saw my next purchase. It was the Lip Surgence Matte Lip Tint that caught my eye, mainly because it was the miniature version. I know I’m not alone in being a sucker for miniature versions of makeup products (or anything for that matter). They are just so darn cute!
The perks of shopping at Sephora are the freebies you get when you spend over a certain amount. So ok, technically not a freebie because you have to spend money first but hey, it’s something and I’m not complaining. The freebie I got with spending over 300 Ringgit (the Malaysian currency) was the Tarte Maracuja C-Brighter Eye Treatment. It’s essentially an eye cream containing Maracuja fruit (nope, don’t know what that is either), that claims to hydrate, firm and brighten the under eye area. I’ll definitely let you know if it lives up to it’s bold claims so watch this space.
Dior
Why have I picked up the Dior Rouge Lipstick in 977 Pied-De-Poule when Dior is widely available in the UK? Because from a quick google search on my phone whilst in-store, I was about to make a saving of around £6 (which is now making me think I should have really made the most of it and picked up a few more things). It’s not like I need another lipstick as I’m pretty sure I’m already currently travelling with 10 plus lipsticks all weighing my luggage down but 1. I don’t yet own a Dior lipstick and 2. It’s from their new seasonal offering making the shade absolutely on point for Autumn/Fall. It’s a deep, rich cherry shade and would look gorgeous with pale skin and lashings of mascara. My only confusion is it’s name. After looking it up, and I may have totally misinterpreted it, but it translates as ‘Chicken Feet’ (huh?). It’s also what the French call the hounds-tooth chequered print because it resembles chicken’s feet. Ahhhh…that’s probably what they were intending to mean rather than actual chicken feet.
Sephora Collection
The Sephora Collection is usually inexpensive compared to the other brands they stock however, after converting the currency from Malaysian Ringgit into British Pounds, I annoyingly found it A LOT more than it actually cost had I bought it from the US. Oh well, you win some (that Dior lippie was a definitely a big win), you lose some.
One of the products I picked up was on my second trip to the store in another location nearby and it’s the Rouge Infusion Lip Stain in the shade Strawberry Tint. I only spotted this because it was on one of promo stands and as soon as I did, I went on a crazed swatching spree. I was so excited that I hadn’t realised that I had put two of the same colour in my basket (Duh!) which meant that I had to return the next day to get a refund (yes that meant that I visited Sephora 3 times in the 3 days I was in Kuala Lumpur). Strawberry Tint is a beautiful pinky, plum shade and although it looks like a gloss with a doe foot applicator, I imagine that I will dry to more of a matte stain seeing as it’s called a lip stain (I could be wrong but I’ll let you know once I’ve tried ).
I picked up one of their nail polishes too as I wanted more of a plummy shade and the one I picked up was their Colour Hit Nail Polish in Divine Purple. It’s a mid-toned shade and more of a pinky purple as opposed to a bluey purple.
Again, I got sucked into the minitures and picked up the Sephora Deodrant Spray whilst waiting in line to pay. This wasn’t a product that I thought that I’d picked up but there’s a story to go with it. I’d run out of my miniature Nivea deodrant not long into my travels and at the time I was in Vietnam. Strangely enough, no matter how many stores I went to, I couldn’t find a spray deodrant. They only sold roll-ons. I’ve not used a roll-on since the beginning of time and as much as I was hesitant in buying one, it was that or no deodrant at all (and that’s not really an option now is it?). I’d been making do with my roll-on for several weeks and it all came to an end when I accidentally dropped the roll-on onto the tiled bathroom floor and needless to say, the thick glass packaging shattered (and I managed to cut my foot in the process). So that long story is the reason why I picked up a spray deodrant and a miniture one is just practical for my travels.
Fresh
Another brand that crops up now and again is Fresh and it’s their Sugar Lip Polish that gets a mention most of the time. I didn’t bring my Nuxe Reve De Miel with me on my travels so I was missing the evening ritual of lathering up my lips with an intensely moisturising balm and to help repair my lips from too much sun exposure. So after a quick scan of the Fresh shelves, I picked up the lip product that sounded most like the one that will do the job I needed and it was the Sugar Advanced Therapy Lip Treatment.
NYX
Urban Decay
